Worth: Lord of Reckoning by Grace Burrowes {Amanda’s Review}

Consummate man of business and rake at large, Worth Kettering, repairs to his country estate to sort out his familial situation, trusting the ever efficient (though as yet unmet) housekeeper, Jacaranda Wyeth, will provide his family a pleasant summer retreat. To his surprise, his household is manage by a quick-witted, violet-eyed beauty who’s his match in many regards.

As Jacaranda and Worth become enamored, the family she’s kept hidden from him, the financial clients Worth feels singularly protective of, and the ragged state of affairs between Worth and his estranged older brother Hessian all conspire to keep Worth and Jacaranda apart. Worth must choose between love and profit, and Jacaranda must decide between loyalty to her family, and the love of a man who values her above all others.

A quiet book, but still compelling.

Thoughts on Worth: Lord of Reckoning

Last month, I was cruising Amazon for new books to read, and Worth: Lord of Reckoning popped up as a free book (as far as I know, it still is). I’m picky about free books because I only want books that I’ll potentially enjoy. I’ve read other books by Grace Burrowes — yay name recognition! — so I took a plunge here.

For lack of a better word, Worth: Lord of Reckoning is a quiet book. What keeps Worth and Jacaranda apart aren’t outside factors, but secrets (which aren’t fully revealed until the last quarter of the book). It made this a slow book to read — or rather, perfectly suited to the 40-ish minutes I had on the bus every day during my commute.

Despite being on the slower side, though, there’s something that kept me coming back to it. I never had a burning desire to hurry up to read, and yet, I did find myself reading late at night. I think maybe it’s the romance that unravels between Worth and Jacaranda.

Worth carries the title of this book, and for good reason: he’s the one who falls first and embraces it. Rather than seducing — even though that was on his mind — he courts Jacaranda. It’s sweet and we want Jacaranda to let go of whatever her secrets are.

Again, secrets of which we don’t learn until the last quarter of the book — I mention it because it’s teased from the beginning, but the reminder of the secret throughout the book and the fact we, as readers, didn’t know the full story was annoying. I needed more of that secret to understand Jacaranda’s reluctance so I could support her decisions. It’s a difficult line to walk: you want that big reveal at some point, but you don’t want your readers scratching your head (or in my case, being frustrated). I find it’s easier to be annoyed with obstinate characters when I don’t have their full picture, and usually by the time their secrets are revealed, the character has annoyed me sufficiently enough that I don’t really care.

Secrets aside (which is a frequent complaint of mine not limited to Worth: Lord of Reckoning), Worth is what makes this book so sweet, and the ending was enough to make the entire story worthwhile. The supporting characters — Worth’s family and Jacaranda’s — enriched the book as well, though there was at least one thread (Yolanda’s full story) that never got resolved, which makes me wonder if there’s more to come. Jacaranda’s family provide a fun dynamic that looks like it’ll be explored later (in a different series in 2016 according to Grace Burrowes’s website).

Great Review!! I just love this series, every book I read is just fantastic, and so many of the titles are either free or at a low price, but they are all at my local library too, which is nice. I don’t mind secrets in a romance as long as its not dragged out too much. But it really depends on the circumstances and the setting too.Renee (@Addictofromance) recently posted…Quote Tastic (73)

Yeah, I’m not a big fan of secrets, because often the keeping of them prevents me from fully aligning myself with the character — if they have a good reason for acting the way they do, I want to know about it before it gets to the point where I want to shake them for being so stubborn. ;)

I always struggle with secrets too Amanda, I don’t like being kept in the dark and teased with it because, like you said, it’s hard to get fully involved in a character when you don’t understand their motivations for behaving a certain way. That was the kiss of death for the Sarah MacLean book I never finished – the third one whose name escapes me. I’m glad the secrets in this case didn’t detract too much from your enjoyment!Jenny @ Supernatural Snark recently posted…Review: The Veil

I’ve never read anything by Grace Burrowes but I keep checking her books out at my library.I love it when the guy falls in love first, but I don’t always like the whole “secrets” thing because, like you, I usually end up being really frustrated by it. But i might still look into it because I want to try this author.Quinn @ Quinn’s Book Nook recently posted…Review: The Truth About Jack by Jody Gehrman

I rather enjoy Burrowes’s Windham family, which is the majority of her books I’ve read. (Although I don’t think I’ve written many reviews of those books.) There are secrets in those books too, though never quite enough to bother me.

This was the book she started to lose me in this series. I believe I read somewhere that the series was only supposed to be 10 books, but now it’s an ongoing series, so these newer books feel disconnected from the larger series and very well could be stand alone books.

August Reviews

Upcoming Reviews

Upcoming Events

Link Back!

Affiliate Disclaimer

Some of the links contained in this blog are affiliate links. This means that we may receive a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase from the affiliate. We only recommend products and services that we know or trust to be of high quality, whether an affiliate relationship is in place or not.